Machine for rossing bark



(No Model.)

F. & A. E. STEARNS. MAGHINE FOR ROSSING BARK! N0. 431,154. Patented July 1, 1890.

INVENT R M WITNESSES-I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK H. STEARNS AND ALBIE E. STEARNS, OF EDEN, VERMONT.

MACHINE FOR ROSSING BARK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,154, dated July 1, 1890. Application filed June 3, 1889- Serial No. 312,972. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we,- FRANK H. STEARNS andALBIE E. STEARNS, residing at Eden, in the county of Lamoille and State of Vermont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Rossing Bark; and we do hereby declare the following to be a, full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to improvements in machines for rossing bark; and it has for its obgects to provide means for accomplishing the expeditious and uniform removal of bark from a log or timber without unduly eating or gouging into the work, which will provide for the automatic feed of the work to the cutting mechanism, and enable the attendant to regulate the feed of the work so'that the quantity of refuse material to be removed from the log can be varied, and at the same time provide for proper feeding of logs having irregular surfaces and depressions.

lVith these primary ends in view and such others as appertain to our invention, it consists of the combination of a rotary cutterhead and a set of toothed feed-rolls located at one side of and on a plane below said outter-head, and they are rotated in the same direction in order to properly feed the log to the cutter-head and turn or rotate the log to present new surfaces on the work for the knives or bits of the cutter-head to act upon. These feed-rolls normally feed the log to the cutter-head, and in order to regulate the relative position of the log with respect to the cutter-head to vary the quantity of bark to be removed and thus secure a uniform rossing of the log, as well as to provide for the proper feed of irregular surfaces on the log to the cutter-head, we provide a counterbalance gage which tends to normally restrain the work from the path or plane of rotation of the cutter-head, but which gage can be readily overcome and adjusted by the attendant to properly feed the work to the cutterhead, all as will be hereinafter more fully described.

Our invention further consists in the peculiar construction land combination of parts,

which will be fully described, and particularly point-ed out in the claims.

To enable others to more readily understand our invention, we will now proceed to a detailed description of the same in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure l is a plan view. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional View on the line as so of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the bits or knives detached from the cutter-head. Fig. 4 is a detail View, in side elevation, showing the gearing for driving both rolls or" the set of feed-rolls in the same direction to feed the work to the cutter-head.

Like numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in the figures of the drawings, referring to WlllCl1- 1 designates the supporting-frame of our .improved rossing-machine, which is provided near its middle with elevated hearings or pillow-blocks 2, which are suitably fixed to opposite sides of the frame and arranged in line with each other to receive the shaft 3 of a rotary cutter-head 4. This cutter-head is preferably square, polygonal, or other an gular shape in cross-section, according to the number of knives or bits it is desired to carry, and to opposite lateral faces of said angular cutter-head we affix tangential cutters or knives 5, which are firmly secured in place by bolts or other suitable means. These knives extend longitudinally of the cutter-head, and one edge of each knife is extended or projected beyond the plane or face of the cylinder to which it is affixed to adapt the knives to properly operate on the work as the cutter-head is rotated. This extended edge of each knife or bit is peculiarly shaped to provide a working and a neutral surface or edge to adapt the knife to properly act on the work, and at the same time avoid undue eating or gouging into the bark. Each knife or bit at one edge is inclined rearwardly from its cutting-edge 6 at a sharp angle to provide a working-surface 7, which extends probably one-third the widthof the knife, and in rear of this working-face the knife is inclined at an obtuse angle, or at a greater inclination than the angle of the Workingface 7, in order to provide a neutral face 8, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

At one side of the rotary cutter-head and below the plane of the same we provide aset of rotary feedrolls 11,which are positively driven in the same direction to feed the work to the cutter-head, in order to properly feed the log to be rossed. These rolls are of different sizes, the smaller one 10 being located closer to the cutter-head than the larger roll, and said rolls are located on the same horizontal plane and parallel with each other. The rolls are provided on their peripheries with radial pointed metallic teeth 12, which take into the log placed on said rolls to turn or rotate the latter, and the shafts of these feed-rolls are extended through one side of the frame 1 and provided with gear-wheels 13 13, which mesh with an interposed gear that is carried by a short shaft 25, located between the shafts of the two feed-rolls. The shaft 11 of the feed-roll 12 that carries the gear 13 also carries a large driving-gear 27, which in turn meshes with the gear 28 on the shaftQ-et for driving the feed-rolls. lhis shaft 24 is belted and geared by the mechanism hereinafter described, so as to receive its motion from the cutter-head, and said shaft 24:

drives the feed-rolls in the same direction, so as to feed the work to the cutter-head by the intermediate gears 28 27, between the shaft 21 and the shaft 11, and the gears 25 and 13 13, as is obvious from an inspection of the drawings.

By reference to Fig. 4 of the drawings it will be observed that we have provided gearing whereby the small feed-roll is rotated at a greater speed than the large feed-roll. By making one roll of the set of toothed feedrolls of less diameter than the other roll of the set and driving it at a greater speed we are enabled to rotate or turn the log at the same time that it is fed to the cutter-head, and thus present new surfaces on the work to the knives of the cutter-head.

At the sides of the supporting-fram e,within the pillow-blocks and cutter-head, are erected vertical guides 14, which extend vertically some distance above the cutter-head, and in these vertical parallel guides are provided longitudinal slots 15, which are located above the cutter-head and extend some distance longitudinally of the frame and on opposite sides of the cutter-head. In these longitudinal guide-slots is fitted a sliding counterbalanced gage 16, which is free to work in said guide-slots and normally tends to restrain the work from contact with the cutter-head, but which is under the complete and easy control of the attendant in order to enable him to regulate the feed of the log to the cutter head.

We prefer to counterbalance the sliding gage by means of weights 17, which normally remain below the frame 1 and connect with the ends of the guide by means of cords 18, which run over grooved guide rolls 19, supported exteriorly on the vertical guides let; but we do not restrict ourselves to this exact means of counterbalancing the guide, as it is obvious that other equivalent contrivances can be used in lieu of these weighted cords. The power for driving the machine is preferably applied to the shaft of the cutter-head by means of a pulley 20, over which runs a belt, (not shown,) and motion is imparted from this cutter-head shaft to the positivelyrotated feed-rolls by a large belt-wheel 21, which has its shaft 22 journaled in bearings 23 at one end of the frame 1, this belt-wheel being in turn belted to a counter-shaft 24 at the opposite end of the frame 1, which is geared to the shaft 11 of the larger feed-roll 11 by the mechanism hereinbefore described. This being the construction of our improved machine, the operation thereof is as follows: The log to be rossed is placed on the toothed rotary feed-rolls, which serve to rotate the same, but the counterbalanced gage is forced normally in contact with the log to prevent the cutter-head from acting on the log, this guide being normally forced or drawn to the side of the cutter-head adjacent to the feedrolls. To feed the log to the cutter-head the attendant presses on the log to overcome the counterbalanced gage, which yields or moves rearward, and the knives or bits on the cutter-head act on the log to ross the same. The position of the log which is being turned by the feed-rolls with relation to the cutter-head can be very easily varied by means of the attendant, who has only to press with greater or less force 011 the log in order to feed the same so that it will be uniformly or properly trimmed; and this gage also allows a log with irregular surface, or one having depressions and elevations, to be properly adjusted, with the exercise of skill on the part of the attendant, to the cutter-head, in order to ross the same properly.

By the employment of the large and small feed-rolls, which are both rotated, by the gearing heretofore described, in the same direction to feed the work to the cutter-head, the feed mechanism is adapted to properly turn both large and small logs so as to be pre sented to the cutter-head. \Vhen a larger log is placed on the feed-rolls the larger roll 11 exerts or operates to turn the log much more than the smaller roll because of its larger area, and when a small log is placed on the feed-rolls the two rolls operate to turn the log.

We do not restrict ourselves to the precise details of construction and form and proportion of parts herein shown and described as an embodiment of our invention, as we are aware that changes and alterations can be made therein without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of our in vention.

Having thus fully described our invention,

what we claim as new, and desire to secure by of feed-rolls arranged on a plane below the cutter-head, at one side thereof and geared together to rotate in the same direction, one of the rolls of the set being of less diameter than the other roll and rotated at a greater speed than the other roll, for the purpose described, substantially as set forth.

2. In a machine for rossing bark, the combination, with a cutter-head, of a set of feedrolls on which the work is supported, and a gage arranged with respect to the cutter-head and feed-rolls to engage the Work and normally hold the same out of contact with the cutter-head, substantially as described for the purpose set forth.

3. In a machine for rossing bark, the combination of a cutter-head, a set of toothed feed-rolls arranged at one side of and below the plane of said cutter-head to support and 5. In a machine for rossing bark, the combination of a cutter-head, a set of feed-rolls,

the upright stationary guides and a sliding counterbalanced gage supported on said guides above the cutter-head, substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. In a machine for rossing bark, the 00111- bination of a cutter-head, a set of feed-rolls, the vertical stationary guides having the horizontal longitudinal slots above the plane of the cutter-head, a sliding gage fitted in the slots of the guides, and weighted depending cords connected to said gage, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7. In a machine for rossing bark, the combination of a positively-rotated cutter-head, a set of toothed feed-rolls which are geared together and located below the cutter-head, a counter-shaft driven from the cutter-head through intermediate gearing and geared directly with the set of fGQd-IOllSyEtlld a counterbalanced gage supported above the plane of the cutter-head and free to slide laterally of the set of feed-rolls, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK II. STEARNS. ALBIE E. STEARNS. 

